Who bears the burden of a corporate tax?

JOE BIDEN wants to rebuild America, and he reckons that American firms can help foot the bill. Central to the president’s grand infrastructure-investment push is a plan to raise the tax rate on corporate income from 21% to 28% (though he has hinted he may settle for less). Although the administration pitches its tax proposals as a way to redress the problem that “those at the top are not doing their part”, opponents warn that corporate-tax rises do not simply fall on wealthy shareholders, but also shrink the pay packets of the working people the president claims to champion. In fact, workers often do bear some of the burden of increases in corporate taxes—though understanding just how much is a question that continues to vex economists. Nonetheless, the details of Mr Biden’s tax plans suggest that they may prove more worker-friendly than the usual effort to squeeze juice from Apple.